“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay? I wouldn’t want Addelyn to do any damage to you while your foot is on the gas pedal.” Jocelyn sends me a warning look as she steps out Weston’s truck, and onto the pavement. I stick my tongue out in response.
“Nah, her safety is involved. She wouldn’t risk her life just to attack me.” Then he sends me a sideways glance. “On second thought, maybe you should stay.”
I roll my eyes. “We’ll be fine. Goodnight. Thanks for coming.”
“Good night. Stay sane, my friend.” And with that, she shuts the door, leaving Weston and I to drive off in silence.
He taps a rhythm on the steering wheel, staring straight out at the road in front of him. “So, tonight was interesting.”
“Yeah… it was. Um, thanks for your help.”
“No problem.” He says. “So, what’s the plan for tomorrow?”
I shrug. “Going public, I guess. Now that Jackson and Kristina know we’re dating, we need the rest of Paxton High to know too. It makes our relationship seem more credible.”
And we need all the credibility we can get.
“So, I post a couple of things on FaceBook, we walk into school together, I destroy my reputation by being seen with you, and that’s about it, right? Sounds… boring.” He says, and I take it as sarcasm. I soon realize, though, that it’s not. “I thought you said this would break them up. Eventually, the shock of our relationship will wear off, and then what? Jackson and Kristina are going to go on with their lives. We have to get down and dirty, Addelyn. We have to set their relationship on fire.”
His manipulative tone intrigues me. “And what do you have in mind, Wes?”
He pauses, biting his lip in thought. “All relationships have problems, right? Maybe if we were to find out their problems, we’d be able to infiltrate the relationship. That’s how we can destroy them.”
It’s a good idea. Pouring salt in their relationship wounds might just do the trick. “So, how do you plan on figuring out their problems? I mean, it’s not like Kristina’s going to come right out and tell you all the horrible things Jackson’s done, if there are any. Just because we’re in a relationship, doesn’t mean she’s automatically going to confide in one of us.”
“True,” he replies, but then a devilish smile sets on his lips. “But I’ve been thinking about something. My second stepmom, before she was bitten by that rabid dog, used to always take my dad to couple’s counseling. People seem to have a trust for counselors. And when she would go, she’d spill out all her problems to him. She’d say things like my dad didn’t love her, or he was always looking at other women, and crap like that. So I think we should set up Kristina and Jackson for a couple’s counseling session. And so that we can hear all their little secrets, we can bug the room with a microphone or something.”
Couple’s counseling, eh? Maybe I underestimate Weston. The guy seems to have a very smart head on his shoulders… when it comes to destroying someone else’s life. “But how are we going to get Kristina and Jackson to do something like that? Couple’s counseling is for people who are having some serious bumps in their relationship. They seem to be just fine.”
“For now. But I know Kristina hates violent guys. Once she sees Jackson picking a fight, she’s bound to be interested in therapy.”
Jackson picking a fight? Two years ago, he broke down crying, because he ‘brutally murdered’ a cockroach, when he stepped on it. “How are you going to make Jackson violent? He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
YOU ARE READING
Strictly Business
Teen Fiction"It's so simple," I say. "All we have to do is pretend we're in love with each other. You know, hold hands, share Eskimo kisses and all that crap. And at the same time, we'll destroy Jackson and Kristina's relationship. Make them think that thei...
